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Two years ago, I was in Hong Kong round a few months after the iPod Touch came out but for some reason, I chose a Cowon A3 which had a 60gb HDD and an ability to play video files without any need for converting. Fast forward to now and while the Cowon is still working, it's just too bulky to carry, hardly has any firmware updates and the fact that the iPod Touch has wifi is what's making me consider buying one now. But before I rush out and buy one, is there any other alternatives? Preferably one that has Wifi for quick email checks since I don't want to tie myself down to a contract mobile phone with 3G internet.

What are you talking about? The 3G standard goes up to 14Mb/s, and the minimum rate should be 2Mb/s. However (quote) "there are no guarantees, so users sold 3G service may not be able to point to a standard and say that the rates it specifies are not being met." (/quote) Meaning, you might be getting the brown end of the stick here. However, in most cases, 3G is broadband.

I would think about getting a contract phone, I know it can be expensive and ties you down, but free internet absolutely anywhere!

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It's not anywhere, and 3G internet isn't even that fast. 3G is only a little bit faster than dialup.

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Actually my uncle has a iPhone 3G. And I used the Speedtest.net on it and found out that its 3G is 350 KB/s. And its Kilobytes. Using AT&T.

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Then he's just in a good area. It's really not a good solid connection. Large cities and other "lucky" areas have good speed/connection, but its few and far between.

I'd also like to toss in my vote for the Zune HD. I don't have one. But i had a Zune30 and i LOVED it...until i cracked the screen. That was a sad day. I want a Zune HD.

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I'll second this one. The ZuneHD, after having used an iPod Touch before, completely blows it out of the water. While it doesn't have the whole plethora of useless apps that the iPod's have, everything else about it is vastly superior. The video quality(even with .wmv's, it's not bad). And since it supports mp4 videos as well...well...yeah. And most likely .avi with the next update that's coming.

And as a fellow member who went from a Zune30 to a ZuneHD, I cast my vote as well.

If you want a good media player, get a ZuneHD. It's cheaper, and more bang for your buck. Just don't expect a craptonne of apps. The ones it has though, are good. Plus, the apps are of quality, and free.

go for the ipod touch 3rd gen you can jailbreak it to get any app you want for free and get emulators like ps1 which can now run final fantasy 7 at a almost perfect speed but only on 3rd gen ipod touches theres a n64 emulator which is still being worked on, snes nes gba and some other ones.

So my vote is ipod touch 3rd gen(not 8gb because this is just a 2nd gen with the 3.1.2 firmware)

go for the ipod touch 3rd gen you can jailbreak it to get any app you want for free and get emulators like ps1 which can now run final fantasy 7 at a almost perfect speed but only on 3rd gen ipod touches theres a n64 emulator which is still being worked on, snes nes gba and some other ones.

So my vote is ipod touch 3rd gen(not 8gb because this is just a 2nd gen with the 3.1.2 firmware)

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Erm. He's asking (per the topic title) for alternatives to the iPod Touch. Unless the iPod Touch 3rd Gen is a good alternative to the iPod Touch.

Zune HD is alright, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it from my experience. The OLED screen is great, and the UI is the smoothest I've ever used in any portable media device. However, the internet is mediocre in comparasion, the sound quality is meh, firmwares keep being delayed and the software is annoying.

Besides the Zune HD, there's the upcoming Cowon S9 successor, the Cowon J3. It won't have wifi, but we'll see how it is.

Samsung P3. I have the P2 and it was pretty good. P3 looks good from what it offers too. Thing is, although you don't want an iPod, you're missing out on a lot of awesome apps. As much as I don't want an iPod, I'm going to get it because it has many great apps. I'm talking about iPod Touch by the way.